Tyres Boxster 981S - R19 area

geoff.hobbin · Nov 18, 2023

Good morning,

First post since becoming a member and Porsche owner in the summer.

Rear P-Zero tyres (265/40/R19 98Y N0) will need replacing shortly. Alot of talk about Michelins Pilot Sport 4 or 4S. (I don't need track day) but cannot find anyone local to supply R19s with N0 Porsche requirement.... Am I missing something here?

Somewhere near Crowthorne or Wokingham would be great. Thanks for suggestions and advice. Geoff

Greenman986S · Nov 18, 2023

Tried your local OPC?

Purple Haze · Nov 18, 2023

I had a similar dilemma when replacing my P Zeros. I have an older 2008 Boxster with 19 inch wheels and finally settled on the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, albeit without the official Porsche N designation after reading many reviews - Black Circles has a good review system. The Michelins have better grip in both dry and wet and the road noise is significantly less - a big factor for me. The wear rates appears to be very good - I bought them 5 years ago & have done just over 10K miles and I would say they are less than half worn. The downside is they're not cheap.

gdavison · Nov 18, 2023

have a read of https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1076654

Seems Porsche no longer "test" N rated tyres for none current models Current 718 Boxster are NB0, NB1 etc

BrianJ · Nov 18, 2023

A quick search of blackcircles shows that the N1 version of the Pirellis is available https://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/pirelli/p-zero/265/40/R19/Y/98/f?tyre=37428802. No idea how old 19" N0 is now but maybe no longer available. The N1 on 20" is a dramatic improvement vs the N0 and although 19" vs 20" N ratings aren't directly comparable, maybe the N1 is a useful choice.

Wollemi · Nov 18, 2023

The Michelin PS4S isn't available in the N rated version for 19" wheels which is why you can't find it. It is available in 20", technically only approved for the 718 (982).
The N rated PS4S is different to the non N /generic version in that it has different sidewalls, and rim protection and different compound.
There is a lot of prejudice against Pirelli P-Zeros, and its true that some previous versions ( the P-Zero name has been used since 1987) were not as good as the competition, but the current N1 P-Zero is a perfectly good tyre.
The generic P-Zero often beats the generic MPS4S in independent tyre tests such as the one published in the latest edition of EVO.
Of course, test of the generic tyres are not completely relevant to the performance of the N rated versions, but it's clearly not a bad tyre.
I personally still choose Michelins as I have 20" wheels, but I drove 1500 miles (much in awful conditions) on N1 P-Zeros and never once found them wanting.

And do try OPC for tyres - my OPC will price match to the best online fitted price I can find. But you have to ask!